Lady Gaga Killed The National Anthem, But These Stars Didn’t


There’s no doubt that Lady Gaga nailed her performance of the national anthem during Super Bowl 50. The multi-talented star (in addition to her arsenal of Grammys, Gaga recently won a Golden Globe for her killer role as The Countess on American Horror Story: Hotel, and she’s even nominated for her first Academy Award) wowed her fans — and likely made some new ones — with her gospel-infused performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of the big game between the Broncos and the Panthers in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBgmgPyJFE3/?taken-by=ladygaga

The “Bad Romance” songstress even looked the part as she sang the nation’s song. E! News namechecked Lady Gaga’s red Gucci suit and American flag-inspired shoes. Lady Gaga also wore coordinating red glittery eye shadow as she belted out the national anthem without missing a note. Indeed, it was a good day to be a Gaga fan. Or to be an American, for that matter.

Lady Gaga’s performance of the national anthem was a definite highlight of Super Bowl 50, even with a Halftime Show roster that included Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars. Lady Gaga will go on to perform a tribute to David Bowie at the Grammy Awards later this month, but her national anthem performance will never be forgotten.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyqkN3zezso

While Lady Gaga’s national anthem performance will go down in the history books, the famous song has been performed at every other Super Bowl except Super Bowl XI in 1977. For some reason, that year Vikki Carr sang “America, The Beautiful” instead. But Gaga’s national anthem performance has been preceded by dozens of iconic stars, including Barry Manilow, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and even the Backstreet Boys.

Unfortunately, not everyone is Lady Gaga when it comes to singing the national anthem. Several big name stars have screwed up the nation’s song royally. In 2010, Josh Groban joined forces with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea to deliver a bizarre arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Rose Bowl BCS National Championship game. And Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is no Lady Gaga either. The rocker botched the nation’s song big time at the AFC championship game in 2011 — and it wasn’t his first time. Tyler also massacred the tune at a 2010 Boston Bruins game and at the Indianapolis 500 in 2001.

Singer Cyndi Lauper blew her national anthem rendition at the U.S. Open in 2011. The ’80s pop star tripped up her lyrics after a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11, mistakenly singing the line “our flag was still streaming.” According to the Los Angeles Times, Lauper later explained she got choked up remembering the 9/11 tragedy. She also tweeted an explanation to her fans.

https://twitter.com/cyndilauper/status/112718783164063744

Even a great singer like Christina Aguilera couldn’t match Lady Gaga’s national anthem performance. Xtina got lost in the moment when she sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 2011. The singer forgot the lines to the famous song and mistakenly sang the same line twice. In a statement posted by the Huffington Post, Aguilera said hoped people would be forgiving of her flub.

“I got so lost in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through.”

But hey, at least she wasn’t like Michael Bolton. At the 2003 Red Sox-Yankees American League Championship game, Bolton made a major faux pas when he forgot the lyrics to the national anthem, then blatantly used his hand for a cheat sheet!

Of course, the mother of all national anthem mishaps came courtesy of Roseanne Barr. The former Roseanne star was at the height of her sitcom career when she literally screamed performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a 1990 San Diego Padres game. Rosie capped off her cringe-worthy performance of the nation’s song by grabbing her crotch and spitting. The disgraced comedian left the field amid a chorus of angry boos from the audience. More than 25 years later, Lady Gaga showed the proper respect to the national anthem.

[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]

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